Miss you already.

We loved having Miss Kate
(as Hessan and Hisham affectionately call her)
visit for a few days.

there was snuggling with Alex

playing with Brie

a pizza party with the neighbors

she even helped us wrap some Christmas presents while I worked on...


...a welcome home package for a certain...

...Sister-in-law who has been serving in Toronto, Canada!

She gets home NEXT WEEK...CRAZY!!


We're super bummed to be missing
her welcome home, but this will have to do.

Miss Kate and Sister Barton...
we miss you both and wished
that you lived closer!

We were there, kinda.

During a recent conversation with my Grandma my Mom was asking her about funeral details. (Unfortunately, my Teddy Graham's health has been going down hill lately and we're not sure how much longer she'll be with us.) Grahams mentioned that she would LOVE to have Jenny Oaks Baker play at her funeral. My Mom basically replied that it probably wouldn't be possible. When later mentioning the conversation to my Dad he proposed having her play for Grandma while she was still alive instead of at her funeral. Rach got in touch with Jenny over email and it turned out that she was visiting Utah for a few days and was happy to squeeze in a mini performance. So a few weeks ago (10 Nov 2011), some of my family congregated at my Parents' home, Brie and I joined in through Skype, and Jenny came to play for Grahams. We were so touched by her willingness to come. The sound quality through Skype wasn't stellar, but everyone who had been there said that her performance was amazing! What a special dream come true for Grahams!

For the Beauty of the Earth.

5 November 2011

For whatever reason I was having a frazzling day...Bry volunteered to take Brie for a "daddy-daughter date" so I could get some things done and have a few minutes to myself. (That dear Bry.) After about twenty minutes Bry texted, telling me that I should come outside. There was Brie smiling under a layer of leaves. She popped up, brushed off the leaves and started running up and down the side walk in front of our house. Then she got her daddy in on the fun. (Somewhere in there we were all looking for especially brilliant-colored leaves. I LOVE fall leaves. Breath-taking really.) Before we knew it another resident at our complex came by, strolling her cute little dog, Lady. Brie excitedly pet her and tried to feed her leaves ;0) I was snapping pictures all the while. It turned out to be a delightful and beautiful autumn afternoon.

Alphabet Adventure---At the Zoo.

(4 November 2011)

To officially finish off the ABCs we did a family alphabet adventure at the Zoo. The night before we put together a little collection of things for Brie to find the morning that we went...

...Her froggie backpack to carry her zoo bingo, map, toy penguin, etc. Girafee of course had to come along. An African Animals ABC book that we had checked out from the library. And Alphabet cookies....thank you Azhar, they were perfect!





We strolled around the zoo and checked off letters on our Zoo Bingo card...not in order, just as we found them. We would dig through our alphabet cookies, find the corresponding letter, hand it to Brie and help her find it on her bingo card, then she'd eat the cookie while we strolled off to find another animal. Near the end Brie was done with the stroller so we pulled her out and off Bry and Brie went...running to find a few more animals. It was so cute seeing those two together, Brie just beaming, running alongside of her Daddy :0) We almost found an animal for each letter. We probably could have if we had stayed a little longer, but the goal was to have fun so we did our best and left when the kids had had enough. As a prize at the end we went over to the Panda Penny-making Machine near the building and she got to pick out a penny to be made ($0.51, not too shabby)...she picked the butterfly.

A is for Ant eater. B is for Butterfly. C is for Cheetah. E is for Elephant. F is for Frog. G is for Giraffe. H is for Hippos. K is for Kangaroo. L is for Lions. M is for Muskrats. O is for Ostrich. P is for Penguin. R is for Rhino. S is for Snake. T is for Turtle. Z is for Zebra.

Zoo Favorites--
Dad: The Hippos who so gracefully danced along the bottom of the tank. Love it!


Mom: The baby elephant, the baby giraffe, Brie FINALLY getting to see the lions, and the sun glistening through the zebras' b&w mohawks :0)
Brie: The giraffes and the lions.

Oktoberfest, pass the A&W.

28 October 2011

Thanks to another Groupon and October specials at Aldi, we had ourselves a little Oktoberfest. We had 3 kinds of bratwurst, spaetzle, rye & pumpernickel breads, white asparagus, spicy mustard and sauerkraut. (Of course we passed on the beer and had A&W instead :0)) Although I enjoy it, I have to admit that German cuisine is not my favorite...BUT, it does bring back memories of Europe AND it's so fun to see Bry relish the traditions and reminisce about his time spent in Germany. Maybe we have ourselves a new family tradition. Til next year :0)

I'm just a little Black Rain Cloud...

...hovering over this honey tree! Have any of you seen that scene from Winnie the Pooh? It's where I got my inspiration for our costumes this year. I wasn't originally planning on being a giant {bumble} bee, but it was fun matching (more or less) my little Brie Bee :0)


This year Halloween entailed...a joy school party that Brie attended, lunch with the neighbors, a chili cook off (with the Carondolet Ward), Trunk or Treat and Trick or Treating around our complex.

the Jewel Box.

21 October 2011

Awhile back Bry & I purchased a Groupon for a 3 hr. photography class (it was only $30!). Near the end of October we set up babysitting (thanks to Martha and Cynthia) and set out for a Saturday morning date together. The weather was beautiful. The class was small. Most of it was review, but there were a few tips that made it worth it. Plus I got to stroll around the Jewel Box grounds with Bry as my model ;0) I was so grateful that he patiently accompanied me as I shot pictures...it could have been really boring, but he sweetly supported me, knowing that this was an opportunity to grow a gift that I've been given.

One main decision--that wasn't directly connected to the class, but that was decided that morning--was to start shooting in manual. The last few years I have toggled between Shutter and Aperture priorities and finally decided to try it out. It still takes me awhile to figure out what combination of ISO speed, aperture and shutter speed to use, but I'm getting better.) I've also been shooting RAW + jpg lately and am excited about the prospects of getting the hang of that.

Fun Date + Progress with Photography = STL Art Photo Class

I know, I know.

I'm SO behind in the blogging world. We've already started decorating for Christmas and I still haven't finished posting about Halloween...not to mention an ABC adventure at the Zoo, taking a photo class with Bry at the Jewel Box, Kate visiting for a weekend, Jenny Oaks Baker coming to play for my Grandma, a whirlwind visit to Utah and California, and all the other random things we've been up to. One of these days {soon} I'll sit down and crank out a few posts. Til then, I hope you all had a splendid Thanksgiving! Toodles.

Not one but two.

Remember these two cuties? Well the day Alex was officially 6 months old (24 Oct) was a beautiful one. Laura and I seized the nice morning light and did a little shoot of these two for their half birthdays. Next time we'll call in some recruits...it was a bit tricky keeping an eye on our two toddler girls, trying to keep the boys on the blanket, looking at the camera and not eating too many leaves :0) In any case, I think we got a few cute ones of our little men.

we had to get one of all 4 kids at the end :0)

Our Little Army Crawler.

(click to enlarge)

15 lbs. 15 oz. and 27 1/2 "

Our little man is 6 months old...he's already lived through half of a year. Craziness. Man do we love that little guy! This last month marks a lot of milestones for him. He has started army crawling and is already getting really fast. He's a lot more content now that he can scoot around and get what he wants. He cut his two bottom teeth last week. He is officially eating solids (cereal and Mum Mums). He can sit up on his own. He is babbling more and more (I love his little voice) and often grunts while he nurses. He still loves to be held and is so content when I put him on my hip and carry him around while I get things done (for whatever reason he reminds me of a little monkey hanging onto its mom) and just watches with his big bright eyes. As always he is one smiley little guy and we love him to pieces. Did I mention that he's mister squirmy....AND that I could eat his cheeks all day long? :0)

**I decided to do his 6 mo. "photo shoot" on my bed since he often scoots around there while I get clothes put away.**

Come in for a Bite.

(25 October 2011)

This year we decided to have a Halloween party with our (Gospel Principles) Sunday School Class. Everyone brought some festive food to share, we had a jello slurping contest, made mutant spider cookies and played the name game (tape the name of someone else at the party on each person's back and they have to ask a question to each person until they figure out who they are---we wanted to get people mixing and mingling and getting to know new people from the class). We had a great time!

**Laura Hintze made and brought a cake for Adam & Alex to
get a picture with to celebrate their half birthday. Cute idea **

Pinwheels and Projects.

A few weeks ago (13 October 2011) our ward did a celebration of personal progress, Young Women in Excellence. It was really touching to hear each girl share their testimonies and talk about the different projects they've been working on. The Personal Progress program is definitely an inspired one.

(The theme was "Color Me Beautiful"-- Choosing to be beautiful in the Lord's eyes and finding strength and courage (much like David who stood up against AND defeated Goliath) to stand up for what we know to be good and right, even if the World thinks otherwise.)

What great Young Women we have!
It's fun getting to know them better.

(One of the Young Women thought us leaders should pose as different Disney princesses. Can you tell which ones we are? Actually, I have no clue who I"m representing...just knew that I was supposed to be holding a "sword" ;0))

*Pinwheels = accordian circles & yoyos :0)

While on the subject of my calling in the Young Women's organization, I have to mention a training we had a few weeks ago (15 October 2011). Elaine Dalton came to train the YW leaders of 8 stakes in the area. I felt so blessed to have been able to be there (thanks to wonderful Bry who stayed home with the kids ALL day long!). Sister Dalton was so inspiring! She was personable, down-to-earth, in tune with the current needs of these girls...and such a masterful speaker and teacher. I came home that night saying that she was my new hero. It's true. I'd love to grow up and be like her :0) A few things I took away from the training were to try to be like Jesus, help each girl feel the spirit and feel loved, and remember that repentance/change is possible!

M is for Mormons & Muslims.

(14 October 2011)

As many of you know, our awesome neighbors and friends, Kate & Steve, moved in July while we were in Utah. We were so sad to come home to their apartment being empty. Thankfully they haven't forgotten about us and even made it a point to come and visit all of us at Park Forest while driving through to Georgia ;0) We decided to plan a big "neighbor party" for the night they were in town. It was so great to see them and for our new neighbors (Taylor & Martha and Nelli----who we love. How do we bless out with such great neighbors?) to mix and mingle with everyone.

(Kate had that little man laughing within seconds of her arrival. Too cute!)

(You've got to click and enlarge this one.)

We had a potluck BBQ (well Azhar brought most of the food. Delicious.), had s'mores, celebrated all the Summer birthdays (thanks to Alaa!) AND finished off the evening by dressing in Muslim attire and taking pictures. Oh what good times! Brie was learning the letter M that day and during the evening someone pointed out jokingly that M is for Mormons and Muslims. Perfect :0) Oh how I love our neighbors. We really did bless out!

(Left to Right--Bry, me, Azhar, Essam, Hessan,
Martha, Taylor, Kate, Steve, Hisham, Abdul, Layan, Alaa)